A month ago, the Montgomery County boys basketball team won the South Callaway Tournament.

Later this month, the Wildcats are hoping to win another championship at South Callaway High School. MCHS will be heading to the Mokane school to compete in the Class 3, District 7 tournament championship tournament that will start on Feb. 24.

The Wildcats will take on the host-South Callaway Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. that night in a quarterfinal game. MCHS drew the No. 4 seed in the seven-team tournament. South Callaway is seeded fifth. The winner of that contest advances to play top-seeded Centralia in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Feb. 26.

The MCHS girls also drew a No. 4 seed in district play. They will compete in the Class 3, District 7 tournament at Hermann High School. MCHS will play fifth-seeded North Callaway at 6 p.m. on Feb. 23 to start district tournament play. The winner of that game will play top-seeded Centralia in the semifinals on Feb. 25.

District seedings and pairings were released on Feb. 12.

The Wildcats are the two-time defending district champions in the boys division. The MCHS boys have won nine district championships in program history. No MCHS team has won three straight district crowns.

On Jan. 17, the Wildcats won the South Callaway Tournament after beating Russellville 54-52 in the championship game. They defeated the Bulldogs 55-49 in a pool play game to advance to the finals. MCHS beat South Callaway in each of the last three meetings.
Out of the seven teams in the South Callaway district tournament, the Wildcats played only one of them and that was South Callaway.

Hermann is the No. 2 seed and will play seventh-seeded Missouri Military Academy at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the quarterfinals. The Bearcats lost to MCHS in the district finals in each of the last two years.

A year ago, the Wildcats topped Hermann 58-41 in the district championship game at South Callaway, en route to a trip to the state quarterfinals.

North Callaway is seeded third and will play sixth-seeded Linn at 6 p.m. on Jan. 24 in the quarterfinals.

The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Feb. 28. The winner will play the District 8 champion in the sectional round at 6 p.m. on March 3.

Six players are back from last year’s district championship squad. They are seniors Chase Queathem, Seth Walton, Colby Ellis, Adrian Combs and Cooper Sellenriek and sophomore Jackson Benney.

The MCHS girls will play North Callaway for the second time this season at the district tournament. The Wildcats beat the Thunderbirds 49-27 in an Eastern Missouri Conference game on Jan. 6 at North Callaway. Last year, MCHS defeated North Callaway 45-31 in a district semifinal game at Centralia.

MCHS competed in the district championship game in each of the last four years. A year ago, the Wildcats lost to Centralia 64-19 in the finals. They won five district crowns in program history, with their last one coming in 2023.

Five of the players are back from last year’s district runner-up team. They are juniors Aubrey Janes, Kaylee Daume and Reaghan Hemeyer and sophomores Emma Rodgers and Addie Schroer. Schroer is out for the season due to a knee injury.

Also, Tolton Catholic is seeded second in the six-team district tournament. The Columbia school will play either third-seeded Hermann or sixth-seeded South Callaway at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 and the winner advances to play the District 8 champion in sectional play at 6 p.m. on March 2.

The Wildcats were 3-2 against their district opponents. They also had a victory over South Callaway in the South Callaway Tournament and finished 1-2 against Hermann.